Biz Buzz shares business tidbits from across the tri-states. This edition highlights recent developments in Dyersville, Iowa; Platteville, Wis.; and Earlville, Iowa.
DYERSVILLE, Iowa — After five generations in the Kramer family, an area funeral home has entered a new era of local ownership.
Brock and Darris Morris recently purchased Kramer Funeral Home and its three northeast Iowa locations in Dyersville, Holy Cross and Monticello. All will now operate under the umbrella of Kramer-Morris Funeral Home.
“We wanted to keep Kramer in the name to honor that legacy as we transition into the next phase of this journey,” said Brock Morris. “I’m very grateful and honored to step into the Kramer family’s shoes.”
The Morrises purchased the funeral homes from longtime owner Craig Kramer. The business had been in the Kramer family for five generations prior to the sale and has been known as Kramer Funeral Home since 1932.
Morris began working there after graduating from mortuary school in 2018 and has worked there since as a licensed funeral director. He credited Kramer with teaching him about the principals of funeral arrangement and the best practices for helping families through difficult times.
He intends to maintain those standards and practices as the funeral homes’ new owner and stressed that all pre-arranged funeral accounts with Kramer Funeral Home will be honored.
“Care, compassion and empathy are all important parts of walking families through difficult parts of their life,” Morris said. “That’s the standard Craig set, and that’s the standard we’ll be holding ourselves to.”
The purchase brings the Kramer-Morris footprint up to five area funeral homes, as Morris already operated facilities in Guttenberg and Garnavillo following the 2023 acquisition of what was then Tuecke-Allyn Funeral Home.
Similar to that acquisition, Morris said much of the Kramer funeral home operation will remain unchanged with the new ownership.
“I’ll still be doing what I always do from the time we get that first call to helping people get that needed assistance,” Morris said. “We’ll be here to walk them through it.”
For more information on the funeral home operations, visit kramer-morrisfuneralhome.com.
Area eatery to partner with Platteville golf club
An area eatery soon will assume management of a local golf club’s restaurant.
Platteville Golf & Country Club recently announced its partnership with Dubuque-based 7 Hills Brewing Co., through which 7 Hills staff will operate the club’s in-house bar and restaurant.
The restaurant will reopen under a new management agreement on March 17.
“I think it’s a real win-win situation,” said 7 Hills CEO Keith Gutierrez. “We can help make their food and beverage product more enjoyable and profitable, … and we can (grow our footprint) with reduced startup costs.”
Already, 7 Hills has a Platteville presence between 7 Hills North at 92 E. Main St. and Beastro Se7en, the brewing company’s bistro-style eatery at 45 N. Second St.
Gutierrez said he was first contacted by the golf club to serve as a consultant and provide tips on how to improve its in-house restaurant. Throughout that process, the idea for a more formal partnership emerged.
Through that partnership, the 7 Hills team will manage and staff the restaurant on behalf of Platteville Golf & Country Club. The intent is to streamline the restaurant’s operations and implement a condensed version of 7 Hills’ existing fast-casual menu, Gutierrez explained.
“One of the biggest things we’ll be doing is adding QR codes to the golf carts so when people are rounding the turn, they can place their order and we can prepare it real quick so they can get back to the back nine,” he said.
Starting March 17, the golf club restaurant will be open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday and from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday. The restaurant will be open to the general public as well as to club members.
Delaware County coffee trailer opens brick-and-mortar shop
A mobile coffee business has opened a new brick-and-mortar location in Delaware County.
The South Side Sip opened earlier this winter as a brick-and-mortar coffee shop at 1 E. Margaret St. in Earlville. The family-run business sells a variety of coffee drinks, tea and other custom refreshments.
“I feel like a coffee shop is something that can bring a little community like this together,” said owner and Earlville resident Heather Vonderhaar. “People can stop in and grab their drink to chat, and they might run into people they haven’t seen for a while and catch up.”
The South Side Sip began in early 2024 as a mobile coffee trailer that Vonderhaar took to various events and locations around northeast Iowa.
In addition to its beverage menu, the trailer was also stocked with a selection of Vonderhaar’s custom jewelry and other handmade wares.
Over time, Vonderhaar said, the coffee trailer made a name for itself and accrued a dedicated batch of regulars.
When she heard that a building was for sale in Earlville, she said it seemed like a good opportunity to take the next step in her entrepreneurial journey.
The Margaret Street building had a prime corner-lot spot in Earlville, Vonderhaar said, and was the right size and layout for a coffee shop. It also has a sizable parking lot, so customers can easily stop in and stay a while.
“I heard that the building was coming up for sale, and it just seemed like the perfect spot for a coffee shop,” she said. “I really didn’t have to do that much to get it ready, and it’s been great.”
Vonderhaar officially opened The South Side Sip’s physical location late last year and has been working since to build up her clientele in the Earlville area.
The shop offers a similar menu to the coffee trailer, she said, as well as a selection of snacks and frozen meals.
She intends to continue taking the trailer to area events when the weather warms up, however, so customers will still have options when it comes to enjoying The South Side Sip’s menu.
“The trailer will still be out and about, but it’s nice having (the brick-and-mortar) too where you can just come in and get straight to work without having to get everything set up again,” she said.
The South Side Sip is open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 7 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. For more information, visit facebook.com/TheSouthSideSipIA.